Parish Profile · 2020. 8. 13. · St John the Baptist Folkestone, Parish Profile 2020 Message from...

Up

– Passionate Spirituality

In

- A caring community

Out

– Focused on mission

Parish Profile

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St John the Baptist Folkestone, Parish Profile 2020

Message from the Diocese

“St John’s seeks to be an ‘in, up and out’ church, being a blessing to people by declaring and sharing the love of Jesus. There is passion for spirituality, mission and growth, with a desire to grow the church among young families in particular.

A leader is needed who...

Can lead calmly and well in the wake of recent conflict, and embrace the positives

emerging from this.

Work well with people in order to build trust.

Hold the church to its declared aims and develop these where needed.

Here is a great opportunity to lead a church towards growth and fruitfulness under God. St John’s is waiting… “

Steve Coneys, Diocesan Mission and Growth Advisor

Contents

Page:

3 Personal profile – who are you?

5 Welcome to St John’s

i Our purpose

ii Our vision

iii Our key values

6 Our six key goals for the next three years

6 The church

7 Church services

7 Coping with Covid

9 Choir & Music group

10 Children, Youth and Families

16 What we do between Sundays?

19 The Deanery

20 Mission

22 Where we are

26 Buildings and facilities

29 People

30 Finance

31 Safeguarding

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Personal Profile – who are you?

St John's is a church with a vibrant evangelical tradition that believes God is

leading us into a new chapter.

We need a strong and courageous leader, a person of vision who will seek

the heart of God, journey with us and move us forward in our faith.

Someone who loves the Lord Jesus,

who is young in outlook, energetic

and enthusiastic with a capacity for

fun and will help us grow our younger

Christians.

Someone who is able to engage with

people of every generation and where

people are on their journey of faith.

Someone who is approachable, warm

and a good listener, enjoys fellowship

and is willing to delegate and

empower everyone to use their gifts

to serve Christ.

Someone who has the vision and insight to grow the mission of our church

and help us to discern God's desire for our church family and for those in

our wider community who do not yet know the Lord Jesus, through prayer,

discipleship, service and mission.

Someone who can help us to develop more varied services that are inclusive

and more accessible for those unused to church, more informal and

contemporary as well as enjoying some of the more traditional forms of

worship.

The Creche

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Someone who seeks

God in prayer, listens

to God and preaches

His word. Follows

God's will with the help

of the Holy Spirit and

who will encourage

and inspire us,

collectively, to be

disciples willing to

spread the good news.

Someone who will help us to have a sensitive attitude to those who are

marginalised, broken, homeless or struggling to cope with life.

We would love our new Vicar to;

Make outreach a priority.

Support other ministries, overseas missions, Social outreach, Parish

visiting, pastoral work and schools ministry.

Be willing to challenge preconceptions and tackle difficult issues.

Confront and encourage the need for repentance and resolution as and

when it arises in a balanced and discerning way.

Help us all to grow spiritually.

Help equip us to understand and use the gifts of The Spirit so that we

can engage in, discernment, healing and spiritual warfare as the Lord

directs.

Are you the person God is calling to lead us in this beautiful part of Kent? We

will be there for you supporting you, working with you and praying for you.

~ 5 ~


Welcome to St John’s Folkestone

Our Purpose

We are here to be a blessing to others by declaring the love of Jesus.

Our Vision

We want to be a welcoming church, where people make friends not just for

Sundays but for during the week becoming members of our family.

We want to be a church which is representative of our community, with a

younger age profile than now (including the upfront team), attractive to

families with children, men and women.

We want to be a mature Christian fellowship, with people committed to coming

every week and growing into their Christian faith. We believe this will lead to

a numerical increase in the church family.

We want to be a church where people can ask questions, and find God

We want to be a church which is a blessing to those who live in our

community but are not yet part of our church.

We are open to God’s leading and stepping into the unknown.

Our Key Values

We desire to be characterised by passionate spirituality.

We desire to be a caring community.

We desire to be focused on mission.

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Our six key goals for the next three years

1. Make corporate prayer a characteristic of our church. We want to become a church which prays regularly together so that our mission may be more effective.

2. Define and establish a mission initiative to the parish using our recent Broadmead Mission Initiative as a model.

3. Ensure our services are well run, and are occasions to which we feel confident to invite others and are an opportunity for everyone to encounter God.

4. Focus on becoming increasingly multigenerational as a church, so that St John’s matches the demographic of the parish, and is attractive to all ages.

5. Make sure we have buildings which are accessible, attractive, comfortable and fit for purpose that people find them easy and welcoming to come to.

6. Aim to become an increasingly caring community so that people joining us will quickly feel at home.

The Church

St John’s is a church where there is a respect for tradition, with a sense of

freedom and flexibility and a desire to be open to the Spirit.

St John’s is committed to the importance of the Bible and to prayer.

Prayer ministry is available following our services; we would like to develop our

wider prayer life including healing, listening and prophetic ministries.

St John’s aims to be a church that offers the welcome of the love of Jesus

Christ to all who we encounter.

The electoral roll reported at the 2020 APCM stands at 118, this includes six

new members. Usual attendance in 2019 was 93 adults and 10 children.

Away weekend at Ashburnham

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Our services

Pre-lockdown...

Services at St John's

1st Sunday Whole Church 10.00 am Worship at Six 6.00 pm. 2nd Sunday Holy Communion 10.00 am Worship at Six 6.00 pm

3rd Sunday Morning Worship 10.00 am Worship at Six & HC 6.00 pm

4th Sunday Morning Worship 10.00 am Worship at Six 6.00 pm

5th Sunday Whole Church 10.00 am Worship at Six 6.00 pm

Our sermons were recorded and made available via the St John’s website.

Services at Grace Taylor Hall

1st Sunday Sunday Worship 9.15 am

2nd Sunday Sunday Worship 9.15 am

3rd Sunday Holy Communion 9.15 am

4th Sunday Sunday Worship 9.15 am

5th Sunday Sunday Worship 9.15 pm

During Covid Lockdown...

HOW WE ARE RESPONDING AS A CHURCH.

The things we are thankful for:

Each Sunday we are meeting to worship together in our individual

homes by watching a pre-recorded service online. This can be

accessed from our Facebook page or our website. We give thanks

for the wonderful technical support from a member of our

congregation. Once a month we continue to have an ‘All Age’

service. Each week has a 15 minute slot especially for the children.

We also have a Young Person’s Service which is organised by our

Children, Young People and Families worker and her wonderful

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puppet Spike! The services are prepared by the Up Front team and

include many members of the congregation.

Growing numbers have connected through our virtual services and

we have seen more people join than in normal times. Take a look at

a virtual service here: https://www.stjohnsfolkestone.org/virtual/services/

Everyone really enjoys the informal coffee time after the service via

zoom with break-out rooms for further conversation.

We meet each Monday on zoom at 12 noon for a time of

intercessory prayer and on a Wednesday at 8.15 am for a Bible Study

and prayer. Our Staff Meeting, Wardens’ meetings, House Groups,

Bible Book Club also continue to meet through zoom as do our PCC

meetings.

Our young people have also enjoyed meeting on zoom to have a

quiz, times of chatting and fun.

Looking outwards, we have offered prayer and support to every

member of our congregation through regular phone calls and our

prayer chain. We post our weekly news sheet to those not on

internet and we regularly send cards and verses of encouragement.

We wanted to ensure that the isolated, house-bound and people at

the fringe were contacted to make sure that no one felt forgotten.

Things that we have found difficult:

Missing the fellowship of being together in person. Not being able

to share communion together. Worshipping in song together.

Closure of buildings resulting in financial loss. Not being able to

carry on with our outreach in the Broadmead Village area.

https://www.stjohnsfolkestone.org/virtual/services/

~ 9 ~


Challenges ahead:

We look forward to being together again but not ‘going back to the

old way of doing things’. We believe that God is leading us forward

in new and exciting ways. It is an opportunity to change the way we

do church. We believe God is calling us to ‘go out’ to where the

people are instead of expecting them to come to us. We look

forward to a new incumbent who will be empowered by the Holy

Spirit to sense the heart of God and lead us forward in ways that will

bring glory to God and increase His Kingdom here in Folkestone and

to the ends of the earth.

Choir & Music Group

The St John’s choir & band are all committed Christians who enjoy

praising God through music. We aim to provide suitable music for

those entering our church and give a confident lead to the

congregation so they can worship freely and feel comfortable in the

presence of God and the church family. We feel it is important to

include songs they know and can relate to, as well as to introduce

new music in more modern

styles. We aim to get a balance

between old and new,

children’s songs and a variety

of styles which are available to

us.

We have approximately 16

regular singers and a band

consisting of keyboard, drums,

violin and clarinet. We lead the music at our main 10.00 service each

Sunday morning. We meet once a week to rehearse songs for the

coming Sunday and future services and to have fellowship with one

another and pray for the worship at St John’s.

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St John’s has had a quarterly “Songs of Praise” service that includes

testimonies, some music chosen by the congregation and a mix of

modern and traditional songs. This service has attracted people who

would not usually be part of the congregation.

St John’s Work with Children, Youth and

Families

A word from the Debra Lewis Our Children, Youth and

Families Minister.

God has called me to St John’s. I have never been part of

such a welcoming, caring and loving Church family

before. When John and I decided to move to Folkestone,

I thought I would just find any job that was offered but God told me that,

with over 20 years of experience of working

with children and young people, I was

going to continue to work for Him. Despite

all the travelling to and from Gillingham;

house purchases falling through and

£870.00 to mend our poor old car, I have

felt really happy being part of the St John’s

outreach. The children are adorable and the

adults are so friendly. There is so much

more we want to do in future – we need to start a Youth band, open a Games

club, offer Junior Alpha courses and

maybe hold film nights or Praise

parties. God has so much in store

but things will happen in his time,

not ours, and in the meantime, we

will continue to serve him in the

best way we know how.

“I like waving my flag

in the songs, playing

in the play area and

the games in Sunday

Fun.”

“I like going to St

John's as it’s fun

and we get to go to

Sunday fun and do

stuff.” 

~ 11 ~


This is what we are doing at the

moment In St John's.

Twiglets:

A group of babies, pre-schoolers

and their parents or carers who

meet for fun, craft and song, linked

to an interactive Bible story. Before

lockdown, Twiglets met in the hall,

every Thursday afternoon, during

term-time. Now two volunteers lead

the club in Zoom meetings, which

the children and their parents are

really enjoying.

Sunday Fun:

Primary school-aged children

would join us in the hall for

around an hour of games,

songs, Bible stories, interactive

talks, craft, Memory verse

challenges and prayer, whilst the

main Church service took place.

During lock-down, this has

become Sunday Fun at Home.

Some children have joined us after

growing too old for the crèche facilities. A

service for children is streamed, called

YPS, which appears every week, apart from

when an All Age service is held. The

children’s parents or carers send in photos

and videos of our young people, so they

feel totally involved in the service.

“I like the funny videos of

the Bible stories. I enjoy

seeing my friends and

worshipping God. It’s good

not having to do the adult

stuff because I don’t like to

sit down for too long.”

“I like playing with the

creche helpers at the

back and the biscuits

after.”

~ 12 ~


We have also run a Zoom Quiz which was

great fun and we plan to hold more, so that

the children can get to see each other as

well as have fun.

Open the Book:

The Bible stories were taken to our two local

Primary schools and brought to life through

drama. The assembly would incorporate a

talk and prayer as well as a song. Children

loved to watch the actors bring the story to

life.

Assemblies:

Both the curate and the CYFM have led assemblies in the Primary Academy

and the CYFM delivered assemblies in Mundella Primary school, every

fortnight. We were able to choose our own themes and use the schools’

laptops. The children love to join in, whether playing games, acting out

stories or doing action songs.

Lessons:

In both Mundella and the Primary Academy, the CYFM has led lessons with

KS1 pupils. We looked at “How and why Christians help others” and “The

Church as a sacred place and what happens there”. We were planning to take

an Easter lesson for Year 6 pupils into the schools, before lockdown and pray

that this will be possible next year instead.

“It’s really fun! We

can make new friends

and the activities are

really good.”

“I like coming

because I

learn about

God. I like

singing the

songs and

doing the

activities at

Sunday Fun. I

also like seeing

my friends and

the teachers

are friendly

and kind.”

~ 13 ~


Message from Frazer Westmorland,

Headteacher, Mundella Primary School:

“Mundella Primary School is placed at the

centre of a historically family oriented

community. We benefit from a hard working

and dedicated team that always go out of

their way to support our pupils and their

families. ...

...St John's church; both its community and buildings, have been a significant part

of our school life in the three years that I have been Headteacher at Mundella

Primary School. I have been fortunate enough to have the counsel and support of

the most recent incumbent; as a governor and friend to the school, and we have

also enjoyed using the church to facilitate harvest, Christmas, Easter and end of

year celebrations. Furthermore, the church hall hosted a cross community drama

production that brought together pupils from four local primary schools with

performances and workshops.

We have also been fortunate enough to enjoy the regular support of the Open the

Book team who bring a little bit of St John's to Mundella on a weekly basis with their

brilliant and engaging assemblies.

Where we benefit most, though, is through the support of the church community.

From my first encounters with St. John's; an end of year celebration, to our support

during Lockdown, I have had the unerring and generosity of spirit, time and prayers

that are felt throughout our school community.”

Message from Alison

Grimmett, Assistant

Principal, Primary /

Early Years &

Kindergarten Lead at

The Primary Academy...

“I have been a teacher at Folkestone Academy Primary for 15 years and

during that time have worked closely with St. John’s Church. The community

that our school, and St. John’s Church, serve is made up of a wide range of

families; many of them suffering hardship for a number of reasons.

~ 14 ~


St. John’s Church has supported Folkestone Academy Primary in many ways

over the years and I am proud to call some of the dedicated members of the

church team friends.

The church regularly offers spiritual support through weekly assemblies:

either the Reverend coming in to speak to the older children, or the

wonderful ‘Open the Book’ team coming to share Bible stories through

drama with the younger ones. Members of the church are willing to share

their faith with children across the school, through our RE curriculum, and

welcome the children into the church building so that our pupils can

experience the atmosphere within a house of worship....

...St. John’s church has a wonderful team of people who willingly volunteer to

support the children at Folkestone Academy Primary and are always keen to

help out, both in person and through prayer.

I look forward to welcoming a new Reverend to St. John’s church and hope

that they will continue to support the amazing work that has been ongoing

between our school and church.”

Discussion time at the Harvey Grammar School:

The Curate and CYFM were invited to discuss “Who is Jesus” at the local boys’

school. As the lads didn’t seem to know an awful lot about Jesus, some

describing him as “a good man” or a “magician”, we were able to give them

facts about why he came to earth and how he influences our lives.

Prayer week: This is an opportunity to offer prayer space activities to the

children in the Primary Academy. Every year, all the children in the school are

able to learn more about God and Jesus, and think about how they can

connect with their Heavenly Father. They learn that prayer isn’t just getting

on your knees and putting your hands together!

Air Cadets: The Curate leads this group regularly, teaching them more about

Jesus in fun, interactive ways.

All age services: These are services where our children are often invited to

take part or lead certain aspects. They are less formal than the weekly

~ 15 ~


services and may incorporate videos, puppets or challenges which appeal

visually to our younger members of Church.

Special services: Additional services such as the Christingle and Pancake

Palaver have been thoroughly enjoyed by young and old alike. We had over

50 children attending Pancake Palaver which was an incredible amount given

that the maximum number of children we have ever had registered in Sunday

Fun was 24!

The Nativity: Last Christmas was our first all age Nativity where children

acted alongside the adults. We are looking to make this a regular

celebration.

Puppets: We now have our very

own Spike, the puppet, and a

stunning puppet stage. At

present there are 3 people who

wish to start a puppet ministry.

Once lockdown is over, this will

happen. We would also like the

children to be involved.

Parties: Last year we held our

first “Tree Decorating Party”

which was a great success. We

look forward to times when we

can celebrate all together once

more.

~ 16 ~


What we do between Sundays

Alpha Course

St John’s organised an Alpha course from May to July 2019 hosted by a

member of the congregation.

Craft Club

Meets on the first Tuesday of each month.

Churches together in Folkestone (CTF)

CTF has a rich heritage in our town, and St. John’s is committed to

supporting and contributing to the unity of the one Church. The vision of

CTF in 2019 continues into 2020 as we seek to be courageous and bold in

our pursuit of mission. In particular, our sense is the Church in Folkestone

and the surrounding area needs to be leading the way in bringing hope and change to our town.

~ 17 ~


Message from Phil Haines, Co-leader South Kent

Community Church & Chairperson: Churches Together

Folkestone

“What it’s like to live in Folkestone:

Folkestone is a lovely seaside town with a wide mix of people from all sorts of ethnic, cultural and social backgrounds. This diversity can be perceived just by walking very short distances around the town, seeing the people and observing the buildings and infrastructure. The local Churches Together Folkestone (CTF) community is working well and there are a number of great cross-church community projects running as well as opportunities to gather in prayer and worship together (of course I would say this as am currently the chairperson of CTF!) The Rainbow Centre (a charity founded by the local churches that works closely with the homeless and downtrodden in the town) is one of many fantastic, but sadly heavily needed, organisations here. Folkestone has a thriving arts community and the harbour and seaside are a personal favourite of mine – there is so much to see and inspire!

Impressions of St John’s

St John’s church have always, and continues, to play a large role in all that goes on in the town and, based on the people I know personally from here, they are a wonderfully dedicated congregation and I have a lot of time and admiration for them. I know no church is perfect (as a flawed human involved in leading other flawed humans I know this only too well!) so no doubt they will have their own unique challenges and characters that make up the body but I trust that whoever comes to serve here will find a lot of support both within and outside of the congregation and together continue to see God at work strengthening all that He has for us here in Folkestone.”

House Groups

There are currently 8 house groups with a total of approximately 65

members. Most groups meet fortnightly in and around the parish. They

meet on different days of the week with some meeting in the evening and

some during the day. Each group

decides what subject or theme they

wish to focus on.

Men’s ministry

During 2019 this has largely

centred around the monthly

breakfasts at the Captain’s Table (a

Vicarage

BBQ

~ 18 ~


harbour-side cafe), which continue to prove popular. Early in 2020 a group

of us has started to meet regularly to look at how we can develop this

ministry.

Pastoral care team

We currently have a team of seven people who serve our Church community

by visiting anyone who may be in need of a friendly face, prayer or home

Holy Communion and we are available to support anyone who asks. We have

continued to offer support by phone throughout ‘lockdown’.

Open the Book

The team at St John's has been going into the Primary Academy for several

years. In 2019, we started going in to Mundella Primary School as well.

Mission Partnership Group

During the past year, the MPG have met regularly and continued to develop

and grow our policies and support of mission home and abroad. You can

read more about our mission work elsewhere in this document.

Primetime

A lively group of over 60s people that meet on a Wednesday afternoon. They

enjoy talks, activities and the opportunity to have a chat over a cuppa and

biscuits. During the year we had an average of 12-15 members, all enjoying

the different activities and games played. Primetime meets on Wednesday at

2-4pm during term time.

Social team

The quarterly open house events,

where people offered hospitality to

other members of the church family

without knowing who would arrive,

were a continued and very popular

feature of 2019/20. We have had

picnics in the park, a vicarage BBQ, a

Harvest Barn Dance and Lockdown

Quizzes.

~ 19 ~


The Deanery

“Our Deanery is very friendly, collaborative and supportive and is learning to

become more spiritual and mission focused in practice rather than too much

business.

We are a diverse bunch of people with diverse theological traditions coming from

diverse communities; town, deprivation, estates and rolling countryside.

We are learning to collaboratively work together to share gifting, resources time and

energy.

We are centred on Christ and mission and follow the Diocesan vision of 'Changed

Lives and Changing Lives.’

We ask ourselves these questions?

1. How is knowing Christ/God changing our life now?

2. How can we best support one another to be 7 day a week Christians?

Canterbury Diocese has the best Safe Guarding Team I have worked with, and the

Continuing Ministerial Training both for clergy and laity is excellent. The Senior

Staff are incredibly supportive and pastorally sensitive and "The Wellbeing" of the

Clergy and Laity is a priority with supervision at all levels.

Chapter meet monthly and we share pub lunches at least twice a year and have a

Deanery Chapter Retreat yearly. Deanery Synod meets 4 times a year.

I love working here and hope you will join us in the amazing journey that God calls

us to.”

Revd. Jane Weekes

Area Dean

Mission

We are a church who seek to reach out into our community and the wider

world. We have the privilege of supporting a number of mission partners

based in the UK and abroad. We do this by volunteering, giving financially

and through prayer. We have a personal contact with each society we

support.

The Rainbow Centre is a Christian charity that delivers

a range of services in Shepway to provide support and

~ 20 ~


hope to individuals and families experiencing deprivation or hardship.

Message from Sir William Fittall, Chairman of Trustees – Folkestone Rainbow

Centre. 'Folkestone is a town with a strong tradition of cooperation and partnership

across churches of all denominations. Following a joint evangelistic mission the

churches agreed to establish a charity in the mid 1980s to undertake work in the

area among people facing particular social and relationship challenges. This

developed into the Folkestone Rainbow Centre which now operates across the

Folkestone and Hythe District, providing three foodbanks, a soup and sandwiches

service, a homeless support service, a winter shelter and a family contact centre. St

John's has always been a strong supporter of this Christian charitable venture, and

provides a significant number of volunteers and trustees over the year and hosting

the winter shelter for a night a week.'

Rainbow Centre services supported by St John’s...

Foodstop

Foodstop is a volunteer-run

mobile food service providing

soup and sandwiches in

Folkestone every week of the

year

Winter Shelter

Is a “rolling winter shelter” which

has variety of participating

church halls, offering their space

every day of the week during the

winter months.

~ 21 ~


Church Pastoral Aid Society

CPAS enables churches to help people hear and discover the

good news of Jesus. CPAS is the patron of St John's and they

work collaboratively with the church and the diocese,

committed to seeing people won for Christ and built up in

the faith. They also run camps during the summer holidays particularly for

children from poorer communities and inner city areas.

Global Mission

Over recent years we have developed our passion for taking the gospel to

other parts of the world and we have the privilege of supporting mission

partners based in the UK and abroad.

Mission Aviation Fellowship:

A locally based international charity which

uses planes to transform the lives of the

world's most isolated people in need.

Working in partnership with hundreds of

other Christian and relief organisations MAF enables practical help,

physical healing, and spiritual hope to be delivered to many of the most

remote and inaccessible communities on the planet.

International China Concern

ICC work in China caring for abandoned

children with special needs in order to give

them love, hope and opportunity. Their

vision is to see each child cared for in a family environment and to receive

the best help so they can lead a more normal life. ICC rescues children, finds

schools, funds surgeries, prevents abandonment and trains China’s

caregivers. A team from St. John’s visited an ICC orphanage in China in

March 2018.

JENGA Community Development Outreach

(CDO)

JENGA CDO is a pioneering Christian charity

based in Mbale, Uganda. Its heart is sustainable development through

~ 22 ~


educated and empowered communities, improving the quality of life of the

most vulnerable and disadvantaged. JENGA CDO focuses its ministry in

urban slum communities and rural mountain villages. A team from St John’s

visited JENGA CDO in March 2019.

We pray regularly for the persecuted church using resources from Open

Doors and the work of Tear Fund. We also sponsor a little boy Marktel

through Compassion UK.

Where we are

St John’s Parish St John’s congregation

Population 8,955

Age 0 - 17 21.9% 10.1%

18 - 64 61.0% 53.0%

65+ 17.1% 36.9%

~ 23 ~


The parish of St. John the Baptist is situated

in the seaside town of Folkestone, on The

“Garden Coast” or English Channel coast of

East Kent. The origin of the name Folkestone

has invited much discussion over the years,

and there is a suggestion that it comes from

Folca’s stone, a rock marking the meeting

place of local people, although who Folca

was and where his stone was remains a

mystery.

Folkestone is nestled at the bottom of the

North Downs which is criss-crossed by

footpaths with great walks. Sample them for a comprehensive view of

Folkestone and the English Channel beyond.

Folkestone was originally a ferry port

with a railway station welcoming tourists

to Folkestone and onto the ferries. In

the Great War of 1914 -1918 crowds of

soldiers would arrive by train and then

embark for France. Between 1914 and

1918 over a million troops marched

down Folkestone’s Road of Remembrance to board ships heading for

battlefields in France and beyond. Folkestone and its neighbouring town of

Dover saw much action during both World Wars. Both towns also played a

major part in the 1940 Dunkirk

evacuation, rescuing thousands of

troops.

In 2014, Prince Harry unveiled an arch

on Folkestone’s Leas as part of the

national commemoration of the start of

the First World War.

~ 24 ~


Folkestone has a fishing and yacht

harbour, where trawlers still bring fresh

fish to be sold in the fishmongers along

the quayside.

The whole area around the harbour and

station have been restored and

transformed into plant-lined pedestrian walkways over the harbour bridge,

through the old harbour train station; so reminiscent of past times.

The Harbour Arm has become one

of THE places to visit in East Kent.

Eateries, bars, live music and the

Lighthouse Champagne bar at the

end of the Arm.

Folkestone is still a travel hub with

the Channel Tunnel on the outskirts

of the town meaning you could be

in Calais within the hour. The Port of Dover is only 7 miles by car or about

15 minutes by train from Folkestone West or Folkestone Central. Canterbury

Cathedral is only a 30 minutes drive. The Ashford Designer outlet is 20

minutes by car.

The unusual shops and cafes of the Old High Street, and the pink house

floating among the trawlers, could whet the appetite to look around the town

for other examples of the unusual art installed during our triennial arts

festivals. For amateur performers, the Tower Theatre is home to the

Dramatic Society, and there is jazz every Thursday.

Folkestone town centre like other towns has lost well-known shops – most

recently Debenhams but we rely on the council to continue in their

innovative efforts to improve our environment. In the town we have the old

Guildhall, now housing the Tourist Office, small museum, and, surprisingly,

up to date films shown in two studios in the Silver Screen cinema. – enough

~ 25 ~


to show the varied and unusual features that make our town an interesting

place to live.

Most of the major Supermarkets are represented in the Folkestone area,

Including Lidl, Sainsbury,

Morrison, Co-oP and Tesco.

There are plenty of open spaces

and children’s play areas, notably

Radnor Park, where families

congregate to use innovative

adventure equipment and enjoy a

snack from the little café.

Another big adventure playground

forms part of the Lower Leas

country park, bordered by a

seaside walkway, summer café and

shingle beach with sheltered bays,

good for competent swimmers.

The zigzag path leads to the (Upper) Leas, a

spacious mile-long paved and grassy

promenade, with bandstand (live music in

summer) and Leas Cliff Hall (all sorts of live

performances) – all reminiscent of former

more elegant times – and always, as are other

parts of the town, enhanced by really

beautiful flower beds. Folkestone has one of

the best sandy beaches around, Sunny Sands

so beautiful at any time of the year.

~ 26 ~


The Royal Victoria Hospital in Folkestone has an Urgent Care Centre and

outpatient departments including X-ray and blood-taking facilities. The

district general hospitals are at Ashford and Canterbury (both about 15 miles

away) and Margate (about 30 miles away).

Folkestone is blessed with an abundance of schools, There are 44 primary

schools and 10 senior – including 2 grammar and 2 special schools in the

council area. Access to libraries is good. There are industrial estates, and

other employers include the Ferry and Channel Tunnel companies and Saga

headquarters. Access to work further afield is good via the M20, high-speed

rail to St Pancras (55 mins), and frequent bus services throughout East Kent

including to Canterbury.

Like many seaside towns Folkestone has its share of poverty and, still, some

deprived areas. The people of Folkestone and the council are striving to help

improve these areas and to do the best for those in poverty and the

homeless. We have many agencies working with those in need including The

Rainbow Centre, The Salvation Army, Churches Together in Folkestone the

Winter Shelter and Citizens Advice Bureau.

It seems that most people who live in Folkestone are happy with the variety it

offers, and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

Folkestone is a town that cares,

Buildings and Facilities

Church and hall

The church was opened in 1879 with

a simple layout of nave and aisle with

the chancel, sanctuary and north

transept added in 1891. The seating

areas are traditional pews that will

accommodate about 300 people.

Minor adaptations and removal of

some pews over the years have allowed for a small children’s area at the

~ 27 ~


rear, a choir and musicians’ area on the right and a low-level stage area at

the front. To the rear of the church is a very small kitchen (used mainly by

the flower arrangers) and a sound desk for recording and the public address

equipment.

In the last couple of years we have talked about re-ordering the church

interior starting with the removal of the pews and creating a flexible space

for worship and other activities. Further thoughts include new seating,

heating, lighting, creating a large kitchen facility, adding toilets, improving

audio and visual equipment, etc. A potentially large project which would

require significant funds (£½-1m). Structurally the building seems to be

sound but needs attention to high level stonework which is weathering and

crumbling both internally and externally. No progress has been made on any

firm plans. The last quinquennial was carried out in 2016.

The hall was added to the church grounds

in 1911 and extended in 1934. Downstairs

includes ladies and disabled toilets, an

office, kitchen (allowing for large scale

catering) and a room with capacity for

about 70-80 seated theatre style. Upstairs

is another kitchen area (no cooking facility),

gents’ toilet, storage room, lounge area and

hall with similar space for seating/games etc and a stage area to one end.

Both floors are used regularly by church and community groups and

generate some income. The church and hall grounds are maintained by

members of the congregation and contract gardeners. Off-street car parking

for 15-20 cars is available in the church grounds. On-street parking is quite

restricted.

Before Coronavirus lockdown the church benefited from an income from hall

lettings. The following is the latest list of hall clients:

Alcoholics Anonymous

Brownies and Guides

Comedy Group

Dance with Danni

Keep Fit and Tap

Slimming World

Spectrum Drama Group

Way 2 Cool Club

Zumba Fitness

~ 28 ~


126 Lucy Avenue and Grace Taylor Hall

St John’s has a 70% interest (Diocese 30%)

in a house on the Broadmead Village estate

built in the 1980s and previously used as

the Curate’s house. This house is rented

out and provides a small steady income. St

John’s is responsible for managing the

house through a managing agent and is

responsible for maintenance. To the rear of the house is Grace Taylor Hall

which is used for a small local congregation that is part of the St John’s

family. It is also used for small community groups occasionally, for example

a craft club. It can seat about 15-20 theatre style and has one toilet and a

very small kitchen facility.

4 Cornwallis Avenue – the Vicarage

A large detached house just off a main

road and about ¾ mile (15 minute

walk) from the main church, Grace

Taylor Hall and the Curate’s house. It

includes 3 large bedrooms, bathroom

and shower room, and downstairs has

living room, dining room, kitchen and

study. A large garden to the rear laid

mainly to lawn with flower beds and small pond.

The front has a garden and flower beds and hard standing for 2-3 cars in

front of a large, easily accessible brick-built garage. The vicarage is a short

walk from Central Station (St Pancras 55 minutes), the boys’ grammar

school, 2 sports centres and a supermarket. The girls’ grammar and the

coast is about 25 minutes walk, while the town centre is 20 minutes.

2 Chalk Close – the Curate’s house

This is a modern 4 bedroom house built

in the 1980s and owned by the Diocese.

It is currently occupied by the Curate.

~ 29 ~


People

A PCC Meeting!

Top row (left to right) Clare Au, Peter Edwards – Church Warden, Nick

Creeden, David Donald & Alex Finlow - Treasurer

2nd Row (left to right) Nancy Benham, Chrissy Forrest – PCC secretary, Becky

Yan – church administrator, Penny Sholl, & Eileen Moore-Dalgliesh.

3rd Row (Left to right) Jenny Hubbard, Sue Wise – director of music, George

Au, Jill O’Neill & Steve Hyde

Bottom row (left to right) Jo Purle - curate, Linda Grieve – Church Warden

elect, Mandy Allen.

Human Resources

We have three paid members of staff – A Childrens Youth and Families

Minister, a Parish Administrator and a cleaner.

~ 30 ~


About finances...

St John’s has paid its Parish Share, in full, every year.

In 2019 Parish Share amounted to 46% of total expenditure.

The parish receives £22,000 in rental income from the

church hall and the house in Lucy Avenue. Income from the

hall will be adversely affected by the Coronavirus lockdown.

Standing orders (£74.4k) and Planned giving envelopes

(£7.2k) together with gift aid (£20.8k) account for 67% of

total income (excluding grants).

Of course 2020 is not finished, but there will be a significant

adverse effect from Covid 19, particularly from the absence

of Hall income for a number of months. We have never-the-

less paid our Parish Share in full.

Reserves 2014 – 2019

Income &

expenditure

2010 - 2019

~ 31 ~


Safeguarding

At St John’s we are committed to the principle of Safeguarding and have a

dedicated team of three who work closely with the leadership team to ensure

we follow all of the House of Bishops’ and Canterbury Diocese Safeguarding

guidance. We aim to create a safe environment for everyone in the church to

be able to share God’s love.

Our Safeguarding team regularly attend advanced level training to ensure

that their knowledge and awareness of current professional thinking is up-

to-date. All volunteers are actively encouraged to access safeguarding

training.

As a caring community we all have a responsibility to report any concerns to

one of our Safeguarding team. They are always available to give advice and

guidance for any church activities or any other specific concerns.

Safeguarding is a regular item on the PCC agenda.

Mandy Allen

(Lead)

Penny Sholl

Clare Au

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